Back from Nashville

Hello Friends,

Whew!  What a whirlwind of fun and work this year's Nashville market was during the last week.  Of course 10 hours of driving both ways is very tiring, but made more fun with my two market helpers and friends Sylvia and Michelle.  I couldn't have made it through my preparations with out the many friends I have and I wouldn't have been able to go to the market without my market helpers.  Thanks so much to all of you who helped to bring this off!!  And special thanks to Sylvia and Michelle for their unending patience and support while at the show!

Now, on to the news.  I took pictures of the suite before we took everything down at the end of the show and when I went to download them found that I didn't have a card in the camera to record the pictures.  Great!!  So, sorry I don't have a picture of the suite for you to see.  Though the suite was small, we did fit everything in.  From Thursday to Monday we really worked and played hard.  We saw old friends and met new ones.  I hope that Sylvia and Michelle will tell you about their market experience in their blogs.

There were five new releases at the market...so let's get started.  The first one was My Little Bees Ruler Pocket which includes the gold ruler.  The design matches the Bees' Rule and the Bee's Rule Accoutrements.  Now the only thing left to do is the matching basket. 

Bee's Ruler Pocket

Bee's Rule Accoutrements

The second one is ABC Come Stitch With Me and includes patterns for a ruler, floss tag, sewing pocket, needlebook and scissors fob.  A pretty two color sceme with Crescent Colours was used, but I would love to see your work if you do it other colors. 

ABC Come Stitch With Me

The third and 4th releases are Milady's Quaker Pendants I & II.  You get enough fabric and silks to do all four patterns.  One pendant is included in the kit and you can get extra pendants from your local needlework store. 

Milady's Quaker Pendants I

Milady's Quaker Pendants II

The last release is A Schoolroom Primer and it's a small hornbook design.  The kit includs the fabric, floss, a parchment alphabet and the hornbook.  One of the parchment alphabets is in the photo.  It is attached to the back of the hornbook with glue and then covered with a matte finish.  

A Schoolroom Primer

All of these were well received at Nashville and should be at your local shop this week.  I hope you like the new things as much as the shops did.  Let me know what you think. 

Also...as a reminder...please send me photos of any finished Milady's Needle Design.  I plan to post them to my blog eventually.  It's late here and I should sign off.  

Hope you all have a wonderful day stitching to your hearts content.

Gloria

Market is Approaching

Hello All,

Well, the holidays are over, although you can't tell it by my living room. Here is a picture of my Milady's Needle Ornament Tree. We are just now taking down the Christmas decorations. There is never enough time. My husband says we should just leave them up all year since we don't seem to be able to get them up until the week of Christmas.


I am working away on several new things for the upcoming market. Finally My Little Bees Ruler Pocket is finished and ready to make the trip to Nashville. Yeah!!

Now all that is left of these series are the baskets for the Acorn, Quaker and Bees. There is alot of stitching on them, so I have very few volunteers to stitch these models. I stitched the Strawberries basket and it did take me awhile. Anyone interested in stitching any of the baskets? Here is a picture of the Strawberries basket and accessories. As you can see the basket is stitched on both top and bottom. But I think it's so pretty when it's done. I will probably end up stitching them myself.


I have also finished a stitcher's pocket, needlebook and scissors fob to go with the ABC Come Stitch With Me series that was released in the December 2008 Just Cross Stitch Magazine. So the charts for the ruler, floss tag, stitcher's pocket, needlebook and scissors fob will be all in one pattern. The picture is of the ruler and floss tag that was pictured in the JCS magazine. So, this pattern will also be on it's way to Nashville.


Two new releases will introduce Milady's Needle Pendants. The first two patterns will be quaker designs. They will be stitched over one on 36 count Luna from Lakeside Linens and will be kitted with fabric, silk floss and a jewlery frame. I think these will look quite nice with any clothing you wear as you can purchase extra frames to do more of the designs in any fabric and fibers you like. Accessorize your wardrobe with matching stitched jewelry.

The last of the five new releases will be Milady's Schoolroom Primer. It is stitched on 4o Count Vintage Buttercream by Lakeside Linens. The kit will come with a hornbook, fabric, silks, parchment Alphabets, charted design and finishing directions. Both sides of the hornbook will be used for finishing. When you see the final design I think you will be pleased.

Well, that's all the news from the castle. I hope you are getting many long days of stitching this winter.

Gloria

Twas the night before Christmas!

Merry Christmas,

Here it is 5 minutes before midnight and I am getting ready to hit the hay. Santa had to deliver some stuff first and eat cookies & milk before she could go to bed. :)

I am thinking back on a wonderfully full year with many surprises, challenges and joyful times with friends, family and my extended needlework family. I am grateful for the new friends I have met this year. One can never have too many friends. My thanks go to those of you who have been a great support to me and you know who you are!! I feel very blessed to have you in my life.

Christmas is a time of celebration. Celebration of new life and the possibility of rebirth. I am grateful for the many gifts that have been given to me this year. Besides the many gifts of time, patience, support and love that I have received from friends and family there is the gift of learning that comes with facing new challenges and doing the best that I can to overcome obstacles in my path. Though sometimes the learning can be difficult, I know that in the end it will be for the greater good.

So, with best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010 I bid you goodnight as the clock strikes midnight and Christmas is here!

Keep warm and get some stitching time during the holidays.

Gloria

Time Seems To Fly

Hello Stitching Friends,

As I grow older it seems as though time just slips away and suddenly it's the end of the year or the beginning of a new one. Why is it that when I was young I couldn't wait for time to fly and now that I am older it's "hey...slow down"!! Guess it's that sense of my own mortality that makes me want to have the days go slower. Maybe it's the time of year. The seasons draw the earth cycle to a close and it's always so beautiful as it ends with the glorious colors of fall. Texas is usually slower than the rest of the country when it comes to fall colors. Although they aren't as brilliant as the northern fall colors, they do change and there are bright spots if you only pause to look at them. So, the last two weeks I have noticed the beauty of the season. Of course the season in Texas is short, so don't blink or you will miss the colors.

This is the ornament I designed for my home guild (Tudor Rose Sampler Guild). I was able to teach the stitches at our November Guild meeting. I think I may offer it as a kit for guilds to use as a teaching piece. It would be a good piece for those in sampler guilds to learn a lot of new stitches. The stitches include: Rice Stitch, Diamond Eyelet, Smyrna Cross, Long-Arm Cross, Alternating Double Back Stitch, Satin Stitch Variations, Montenegrin Stitch, Queen Stitch, Four-sided Stitch, Lora Standish Stitch, Two-Sided Italian Stitch, Ray Stitch, Double Herringbone Stitch, Rhodes Star Stitch, Alternating Mosaic Stitch and Cross Stitch. Stitchers will learn 15 sampler stitches. I received some very nice feedback from guild members and I am grateful for the chance to participate in guild functions with so many wonderful sampler stitchers.

I finally got the printer fixed. It only took a month for the parts to come in! I am finishing up the printing of the final pattern of the year. Of course looking at works in progress for the Nashville Market keeps my designing hat on. However, it's good to feel like I can breathe again as the pin cushions production list is winding down and the final orders are going out within the next few weeks.

I am working on my ornament for our guild Christmas ornament exchange. It's nice to stitch on something other than my own designs. There is so much out there to stitch and I have so little time to stitch on the many beautiful patterns in my stash. I am look forward to the weekly stitching time with friends on Thursday evenings. Stitching friends are really forever friends. We will be losing one of our stitching friends to Germany for two years. Although, she will be missed a great deal, I know that our friendship is strong enough to bridge the distance. Who knows, maybe I will finally get to Europe!!

I hope all of you have had some days or at least a few hours to stitch on your favority projects during the last few weeks of the year. Enjoy those hours of solitude with needle and thread!

Happy Stitching,
Gloria

Winners of the Online Needlework Show Drawning

Hello All,

I went to my regular Thursday night stitching group and we had a wonderful time laughing, eating and talking. Not much stitching was done and my friend Michelle should have reminded us of her blog title a few days ago ("Less Talkie and More Stitchie") before we got too far into the evening!! We had a great time!! Aren't stitching friends the greatest!!

On my way to meet with my group, I had my friend Kim cut up all the names from the comments section of the blog for the drawing. I had copied all of your comments with the names so that I could use them for the drawing. Near the end of the evening I had each friend draw a name from the container and then narrowed it down from four to one. The winner of the drawing is Elizabeth of Witch of Stitches!! Congratulations Elizabeth!!

But wait...when I arrived home, I found that three of the pieces of paper with names on them that were cut on the way to the meeting had lodged under the drivers seat of my car. Guess Kim got a little crazy with the cutting! So, I decided that I would simply add those names back in and do a second drawing. So you all had a second chance at winning. The second winner is Kellylee! Congratulations to you Kelly!!

It was great to have so many entries for the drawing and the number of you who joined as followers is wonderful! Thank-you all for your lovely comments on my designs. It helps every designer to know that there are more than just her close friends who like what she or he is creating!! :) Please do keep visiting Milady's Blog and keep up with the latest news on the design front. Hopefully my husband and I will be able to get the website into shape this next year and I will let you all know when it's ready to view.

Hope you will have many blessed stitching moments this fall.

Warmly,

Gloria

Milady Goes To The Online Needlework Show

Hi All,

The online needlework show starts in about 3 days. I have new and not so new items for you to view with quite a few Christmas ornaments in the mix. Of course all the new items from the recent St. Charles Needlework Market are there and in addition there is a new Christmas Ornament that will be released at the online show. "Woodland Christmas" is pictured here. It is finished as a stand-up ornament and the fabric chosen to surround the ornament was just perfect!!

To see a few more designs not listed in the show, but available for purchase, search the previous posts in my blog and go to my website.

Go to: http://needleworkshow.com/index.html to see the show. See you there!

Gloria

New Releases From St. Charles

Hi All,

I am home exhausted, but we had a wonderful time at the show!! It is always fun to see what everyone has come up with between shows. Seeing the models makes all the difference. I promised to post the pictures of the new items...so here goes:

Halloween Rules is done both as a ruler and a basket band. It's stitched on 40 count R&R Garden State Java with Weeks Dye Works Threads. The instructions for finishing are included in the chart.




Christmas Elegance is done in both a simple Cross Stitch chart and as Asissi work (where the background is stitched instead of the actual pattern). This changes the look of the finished work. The piece is stitched on 40 count River Willow by Lakeside Linens and 35 count Beige by Weeks Dye Works using Crescent C0lours Silks.

ABC 123 is designed with the quilter/cross stitcher in mind. It is stitched on 30 count Tin Roof by Weeks Dye Works using Gentle Arts Simply Wool. It is mounted on Weeks Dye Works Houndstooth Wool Fabric with the Blanket Stitch. It was fun to stitch.





Winter is Past is stitched on 36 Count Sand Dune by Lakeside Linens Silks using Au Ver A Soie. The lovely bright colors add to the charm.

Trade Show Special: In The Garden. This piece was only offered at the show, so you will find this kit at shops that attended the market. Although this will again be offered at the Nashville Market in 2010, you will probably need to look around to find a needlework shop that carries this cute box. It comes as a complete kit. It is stitched on 40 Count Vintage Butter Cream from Lakeside Linens.

I hope you like the new releases and will ask your shop to carry Milady's Needle Designs.

Till next time...may your stitching bring you many rewards. Gloria